MERGING Harrow Magistrates' Court withbones in Brent or Hendon may not be a terribly popular idea in Harrow.

As one magistrate put it, residents like the security of having local justice determined in their own backyard rather than six miles down the road.

The proposal to amalgamate the magistrates' benches could mean that Harrow criminal cases are heard by JPs who are from Barnet and Brent and do not know Harrow well, and vice-versa. And even though each case is heard on its own merit, a little local knowledge can be hugely beneficial in keeping justice fair and balanced.

Along the same lines, defendants, witnesses, observers and, crucially, police officers will have to travel further and spend more time and money getting to the alternative court, wherever it is, and although the reverse is true for people from Brent and Barnet attending Harrow Crown Court, the magistrates' court serves a larger volume of cases.

Six years ago, plans to shut Harrow Magistrates' Court were fought to the very top by residents.

The questions this time round are these: to what extent does the government's need to save money outweigh all the other concerns - which are largely the same as last time - and do Harrovians still have the same fight in their stomachs to prove that sit doesn't?